Climate Change and Global Social Justice

LSE and Foreign Policy Centre lecture

Douglas Alexander was appointed Secretary of State for International Development in June 2007, as part of Gordon Brown's first Cabinet. Prior to that he had been Secretary of State for Transport and Secretary of State for Scotland since 2006. Mr Alexander was Minister of State for Europe in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office from 2005 to 2006. Born in Glasgow in 1967, Mr Alexander grew up in Bishopton. In 1984, at the age of 17, Mr Alexander won a Scottish Scholarship to attend an international college in Vancouver, Canada, for two years. After gaining the International Baccalaureate, he returned to Scotland to study Politics and Modern History at Edinburgh University.

In 1988, he won a further scholarship to study for a year at the University of Pennysylvania, an Ivy League University in Philadelphia, USA. During his time in the States, he worked as a Press Steward for the Dukakis Presidential Campaign, and worked for a Democratic Senator on Capitol Hill. After graduating with a first class MA Hons Degree, he began work as a Parliamentary Researcher and Speechwriter for Gordon Brown MP, a position he held for a year, before returning to Scotland to qualify as a lawyer. He graduated from Edinburgh University LLB (Dist) in 1993, and gained his Diploma in Legal Practice the following year. Mr Alexander was appointed Minister for e-Commerce and Competitiveness at the Department of Trade and Industry in June 2001. In May 2002, he was appointed Minister of State at the Cabinet Office, overseeing the work of the Government's influential Strategy Unit, the Central Office of Information, and the Civil Service. In the June 2003 reshuffle, Mr Alexander was promoted to Minister for the Cabinet Office and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. He was appointed Minister of State for Trade, Investment and Foreign Affairs on 9 September 2004.

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